Cavs, Indians give city night to cherish

Parents walked alongside children and grandparents alongside grandchildren. Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, partners, life- long friends and new friends congregated at the center of the sports universe wearing Cavaliers and Indians apparel on a night Cleveland sports fans could have never imagined. Not even five months ago.

The Cavaliers received championship rings at Quick-

As NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup shifts to Round 3, USA TODAY Sports ranks the remaining eight drivers and their chances of making it to the fourdriver final at Homestead- Miami Speedway.

1. Jimmie Johnson: The sixtime series champion has won eight times at Martinsville Speedway ( most recently in 2013), six times at Texas Motor Speedway ( including four in a row in the fall race) and four times at Phoenix International Raceway ( last in 2009), but this Jimmie- proofed Chase cannot contain the Hendrick Motorsports driver now that he has made the third round. He’s simply too solid on the impending raft of tracks not to earn a win or enough points to slot himself into the championship race.

2. Kevin Harvick: Stop me if you’ve heard this, but the 2014 champ has never failed to reach the final in this version of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. With Phoenix as a fire wall ( six wins in his last eight at the 1- mile oval), he doesn’t figure to miss out.

3. Denny Hamlin: The toprated Joe Gibbs Racing driver with a pulsating asterisk. If the Virginia native can win for the sixth time at Martinsville this week, his heart will swell and he will power into Homestead. If not, the light goes out.

4. Kyle Busch: It has been a relatively sedate title defense for Busch, even with a co- seriesleading four wins. That makes the JGR driver a sneaky pick to meander through the round for a chance to become the first to repeat in this unforgiving tournament in which the larger body of work is meaningless.

5. Joey Logano: He was going to win at Martinsville last year, but then Matt Kenseth slammed into him in retaliation for an incident at Kansas Speedway. Apparently nemesis- less entering the final elimination round, the Talladega Superspeedway winner is perhaps positioned better than when he swept the middle round in 2015 but dragged baggage full of acrimony with him.

6. Matt Kenseth: Good finishes — the JGR Talladega draftto- safety plan notwithstanding — but no indication he’s ready to produce the win or big finish needed to make the final four.

7. Carl Edwards: He was within 0.01 second of beating Harvick at Phoenix this spring, so Gibbs’ fourth hopeful has a shot.

8. Kurt Busch: He advanced to the third round with another resilient segment. Unless the speed to threaten for a win appears, though, the end is nigh.

RICK OSENTOSKI, USA TODAY SPORTS The Cavaliers and LeBron James got their title rings as the Indians hosted Game 1 of the World Series.

MARVIN GENTRY, USA TODAY SPORTS Jimmie Johnson has fared well at the next three tracks.